Paraguayan Olympian Luana Alonso is returning to swimming after she stirred up more than just water during last year’s Paris Olympic Games.
Alonso, who represented Paraguay during the 2024 Paris Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, seemingly ended her retirement and vowed to return to swimming after she was allegedly booted from the Olympic Village over “inappropriate behavior.”
“Next year I’m coming back,” Alonso, 21, revealed on her Instagram story after a fan asked her if she’d swim or participate in the Olympics again. “But I don’t know if I will be back to competitive swimming.”
Alonso, who went viral for a tattoo of the Olympic five rings on her hip, failed to make the semi-finals in her last two appearances at the Summer Games.
After she failed to advance out of her heat in the women’s 100m butterfly, Alonso immediately announced she was retiring from the sport and later started an OnlyFans page.
“It’s official!” Alonso wrote in the caption. “I’m retiring from swimming, thank you all so much for your support! Sorry Paraguay I just have to say thank you!”
Alonso opted to stay at the village after retiring from the sport, which was allowed, but her conduct caused controversy during her time before and during the games, according to reports.
Her alleged conduct reportedly frustrated the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, which booted her out of the village.
“Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay,” Larissa Schaerer, head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, told The Sun at the time. “We thank her for proceeding as instructed, as it was of her own free will that she did not spend the night in the Athletes’ Village.
Paraguayan media outlets reported that she spent time at Disneyland instead of supporting her teammates.
She reportedly appeared on a live stream ahead of the games and said, “I want to represent the United States more” than Paraguay.
She also allegedly became a distraction to competitors with her “skimpy clothing and socializing with other athletes,” according to the Daily Mail.
Alonso denied that she was kicked out of the Olympic Village.
“I just wanted to make it clear that I was never removed or expelled from anywhere, stop spreading false information,” Alonso wrote in a post on her Instagram story.
“I don’t want to give any statement but I’m not going to let lies affect me either.”
Her planned return to the sport will come after she graduates from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She suited up for the university for one season before she chose not to return to the team in 2023-2024.
On Tuesday night, the swimmer posted an Instagram story with the caption, “1 semester to go.”
